Local and Kenyan schoolchildren to benefit from return of Village Feast fundraiser

A popular summer highlight is returning to eastern P.E.I. after a three-year absence due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Village Feast, a gourmet grilling event that features steak, lobster and a variety of locally grown food, will be held on July 9 from 3-6 p.m. at a new location: Souris Regional School on Longworth Street.

The event, which has in the past drawn about 1,000 people, is put on by community volunteers led by Chef Michael Smith and the Inn at Bay Fortune. It has been raising money for local and global projects for more than a decade.

This year, organizers aim to raise about $50,000, which will go to charities including Coats for Kids, the Souris school breakfast program, and Farmers Helping Farmers.

Farmers Helping Farmers will use some of the money to build cookhouses at schools in rural Kenya. The cookhouses are on the school grounds, and will provide breakfast and lunch for the children, said Farmers Helping Farmers co-ordinator Teresa Mellish.

"Sometimes these meals are the only meals that the children do receive during the day," she said. "The lunch meal may be the main meal of the day; they may not get much of a meal when they go home."

Mellish said Farmers Helping Farmers has built 22 cookhouses so far — with 17 of those using funds provided through the Village Feast.

Tickets for the event start at $75 and can be purchased through Eventbrite.